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Monday, October 24, 2011

The Lantern Group Read - Finis!

Today is the final installment of The Lantern group read for RIP VI. I skipped last week as my brain was fried and I was afraid of giving things away. Today I'm onboard, though.

Thanks so much to Carl, Kelly, and Heather for coming up with the questions!!!

Potential spoilers ahead!!!

1. Now that it's all said and done; what did you think of the book? Did you see the ending coming?

I liked it! I had parts of the ending figured out.. I don't think Lawrenson's intention was to really trick her audience about what was coming. Given Pierre's character, I don't think it's any surprise that he might've done something terrible. Dom's role in Rachel's demise was a little more surprising. I did not see her illness coming, and I did not see his part in ahead of time. That's the one part of the book that REALLY gave me shivers. What guilt to live with! I actually thought Rachel got off the hook quite easily. I expected her to be a bit more, oh, psycho! Thought he might've pushed her off a cliff by accident or something.

2. What do you think of the characters? Lawrenson took us on a twisty little ride there, I had trouble deciding who was good and who wasn't for a while there! What do you think of Dom? Of Sabine? Rachel?

One of the things Lawrenson does very well is cast doubt over her characters and walk the line between trustworthy or not, truth and lies, good and evil. Her characters are unreliable, conflicted, and I didn't really trust anyone outside of Benedicte and Eve. I even had my reservations about those two in some way or another. Benedicte's mental state was in question, compounded with her failing eyesight. Eve was paranoid and alone. So, yeah, I didn't trust anyone at various points in the novel.

Sabine was unimpressive overall. I found her a very wooden, stock character. Probably my least fave of everyone.

3. Pierre was such a conflicted character. In the end, do you think he killed Marthe and Annette, or did the fall to their deaths because of their blindness?

He totally killed them. I didn't really see him as conflicted. I saw him as a sociopathic asshole. Harsh?

4. The book is being compared to Rebecca and Daphne du Maurier's writing. Do you think the book lives up to that description?

No idea. I haven't read Rebecca. I know! I know! I will. Pinky swear.

5. Did you have any problems with the book? Narration? Plot? The back and forth between two different characters and times?

I didn't really have any problems with the book. I liked the narration, I liked the plot, but now that I've been done with it for several weeks, I have a hard time remembering specifics. I can remember the specifics if I think about it for a few minutes (like writing this post). I'm not sure it'll be memorable in the long run, but it was a good read in the short run.

6. Do you think Lawrenson tied both stories together well in the end? Is there anything she could/should have done differently?

Boring answer: I was satisfied. No changes necessary. :)

7. One problem I had with the novel is the reliability of the narrators. Do you think any of them were telling the truth? Which ones?

I kinda skipped ahead on this one and addressed this issue earlier! I think they were both unreliable in their own ways. I don't think they were deceitful or had any specific agendas, but I think the forces at work in their lives -- health issues, mental stability, stress -- exerted influence that could make them unreliable. I kinda like that about Benedicte and Eve. It made them interesting, mysterious, and multifaceted.